Personal

However, I do have good reasons for my lack of posts: Since my last entry I’ve had a birthday (which I finally published after it had been sitting in my drafts for the longest time), celebrated Easter with family, had some dental work done, and started a new job! And while it may not seem like a lot written out, it seemed to take up a lot of my life over the past few months. Just the process of fixing my cracked tooth and replacing it with a crown, took weeks alone.

Besides turning another year older (and throwing the coolest Breath of the Wild themed birthday party), I decided to leave my job. I had been there for a little over three years, and while I really enjoyed being part of the small design team there and the type of work I was doing I definitely felt that it was the right time to move on. But of course, there’s a ton of work that you have to do when you make a decision like that: I had to research companies (especially since I was unsure if I wanted to stay in the same industry), prepare for the interviews I was asked to, and line up a few interview outfits. Plus, I had to get ready to leave the job I had been at for the past few years – including taking home personal items in short bursts so as not to alarm anyone of my intentions. It’s difficult to do, but it’s also an emotional process – which I think most people would agree with (whether they hate their job or love going into work but need something new or something more).

I learned one major lesson, thought it was towards the end of my interviewing journey: Don’t refer to your interviews as interviews – call them meetings. I’m somewhat of a nervous interviewee. I’ve heard a lot of tips before: Do a superhero pose in the bathroom or empty elevator to give yourself a subconscious confidence boost, do mock interviews with a friend, and more. But this time around, I found a new and really interesting tip: Don’t refer to your interview as an interview, refer to it as a meeting. You do this because meetings are easy and generally painless. There’s little or no pressure, and you are normally able to present your ideas and plans in a calm and inviting environment. And an interview really is just a meeting, it’s just a word that has taken on so much more. Plus, when your interview is reframed as a meeting you are able to attend the meeting with the same goal as the person calling the meeting (or interview). I’m now able to interview my interviewer, instead of being afraid of how I’m coming across and possibly losing out on an opportunity because of nerves. This way you free yourself to gain more insight into what your potential new employer is expecting, how you fit into the equation, and if you truly want to work for that company or not. Sometimes, you may find out at an interview that this isn’t really what you wanted – and that’s okay (so long as you aren’t wasting people’s time).

The late Marina Keegan helped me come to a paramount realization about my life this year: it really is just beginning. Let me explain. I was reading her essay, The Opposite of Loneliness, and this paragraph very nearly leapt off the page…

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that my favorite movie is Disney’s The Little Mermaid. For one, because it’s the best movie ever created. So for this year’s Halloween festivities, like Taylor, I brought it back to 1989 and…